The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater

In a Nutshell

A French comic and storyteller inhabits a huge variety of characters onstage, making a rare stateside appearance

The Fine Print

Promotional value expires Jan 11, 2015.Limit 4 per person. Valid only for option purchased. Redeem starting 1/11 for a ticket at venue will call. Must show valid ID matching name on Groupon at Fillmore Miami Beach. Refundable only on day of purchase. Must purchase together to sit together. Discount reflects Live Nation's current ticket prices-price may differ on day of the event. Doors open 1 hour before showtime. For ADA accommodations, call box office promptly upon receipt of voucher - availability is limited. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.

D’jal

What you’re likely to see: an onslaught of jokes, stories, and assorted characters, all performed in French

Some of the characters he’s conjured on stage: the Cro-Magnon who invented the kiss, a streetwise squirrel, and various eccentrics from around the world

Where you’ve seen him: on the French TV show Jamel Comedy Club and on sold-out tours across the globe

Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater

Back in 1950, when it was still known as the Miami Beach Municipal Auditorium, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Frank Sinatra could be seen in the audience acting like average Joes while enjoying song-and-dance shows and boxing bouts. Throughout the following decades, the entertainment mecca has remained a magnet for famous entertainers. In 1964, when the city of Miami asked famed funnyman and honeymooner Jackie Gleason to move his television variety show from New York to Miami Beach, he relocated in a bang-zoom, declaring “Miami Beach audiences are the greatest in the world,” then muttering under his breath, “and New York audiences smell like Art Carney’s hat.”

Rechristened as The Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts in 1987, the theater hosted the best in Broadway shows, dance and classical-music performances, and concerts throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. In 2007, the venue underwent a multimillion-dollar face- and body-lift, adding even more glitz to the sleek columned entrance and the spacious multichandeliered auditorium. Now merged with California’s famed Fillmore chain, the theater has inherited a rich rock ‘n’ roll history to add to its already lofty annals.